In Service To My King
by Sareele
Summary: Service to the king? Is that what Link calls his proposal? Oh well, I wouldn't blame him for that excuse, after all, Zelda would never let him live it down if he lost in the game of 'who can admit they are in love first' that they've been having. Zelink.


Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda.

A/N: It's summer break and I decided that I would give in to some of those plot bunnies and actually write something. This is one of the few ideas that have running around in my brain. I'm also experimenting with different writing styles, so this is from a POV that I haven't written before or even really thought about writing before. Enjoy.

…

**In Service to my King**

Link has always been an idiot of sorts. That's why he needs me, Navi, to guide him through all his adventures so he can actually do something decent and not end up upside-down and stuck in the middle of the Kokiri pond. That's not really how I found him at first, though falling off of a bed tangled in bed sheets, the reality, is a close second when it comes down to it.

The boy is adorable, I have to admit it. He does the cutest things. I mean this in a little brother sort of way. I still remember when he first got on that horse. And how he'd fall from every ledge he'd climb on to and then chase cuccoos around until they got mad at him. But that was when he was ten and living with a bunch of forest children and fairies, and maybe he didn't know better. He did foolish things because he was young and not necessarily out of his pride.

Yeah, his pride. I blame Zelda for that one. You see…it all started when he was ten, then when he went straight to seventeen and back for a couple of months (long story), and then once again progressed through his childhood normally. He'd always meet a couple of girls wherever he went, and he'd flirt with them, and then he would come back and flirt with the princess. And it all seemed well and good. And then the princess would flirt back, and then he would flirt more, and then pretty soon the whole town knew that they were pretty much in love with each other.

Would they admit it?

No!

I don't know exactly how it started. Not the love thing, I know exactly how that happened. After Link rescued her a couple of times and did a lot of sweet, flirty things, she fell for him immediately. And of course, who can resist a beautiful princess with amazing magical talents? No explanation needed there. But even though everyone else knew, and I knew, and they knew themselves, they refused to admit it to each other. And so, they just acted as friends, secretly loving each other and suspecting that their love might be returned. How do I know? Well, Link tells me this stuff. And Zelda? Sometimes I replace her nightlight when she sits by the bed to write in her diary. I know everything.

All this leads down to one thing…the proposal. The proposal? Ah see, this was kind of funny. This requires an explanation from the start. And so, I shall take you back to the day when Link actually took the plunge.

…

It was a day in spring. The weather outside was sunny with not a cloud in sight. A few birds were singing, and a light breeze was blowing, but other than that there were no sounds as Link and I stood outside (and of course, I was really hovering, not standing, but I'm sure you get the point). Link was extremely silent, staring off into the distance, one hand tucked into his tunic pocket. Finally he turned to me, worry written all over his face. I knew what plagued him. I had been there when he had approached the king.

"You know, I thought talking to Zelda's father was going to be the hard part," he told me. "Are you sure I'm doing the right thing? I mean, you're not mistaken right?"

I think at this point I sighed.

"Of course, Link. Zelda is head over heels in love with you. Just ask her the question and get it over with!" Link, at this point, took out the box he had been touching inside his pocket. Inside was a ring. An engagement ring. For Zelda. He didn't open it, but I had seen it many times already. A silver band with a diamond heart in the middle, surrounded by smaller white diamonds. It was such a pretty thing.

"What am I going to tell her?" Link asked me. Like I knew how a man ought to propose to his true love of seven years? Actually longer, since he was seventeen a little while before he was eleven, however weird that seems. And really, after that, he repeated three days over and over in Termina. That ought to add up to something. But I digress.

"I don't know…maybe: 'I love you, please marry me?'" I offered. Link shook his head.

"Yeah, and then she'll have silent triumph for the rest of our lives that I finally caved. No…I have to somehow make her admit it first." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, Link! Listen! Maybe you can say someone else made you do it and therefore it wasn't really your fault that you gave in?" I meant it as a sarcastic joke, really I did. But Link's face immediately brightened up and I nearly fell out of the air when he said his next words.

"Navi! That's a brilliant idea!"

What the hell?

It had always been: Navi, shut up! Navi, you're annoying! Navi, I know that already, stop being distracting! And the one time I don't give him serious, heed-me-now advice, he takes it readily?

"That's perfect!" Link continued, obviously having ignored my disbelief. "I can pin it on someone else, then it's not really me, and then I won't have to worry about admitting anything first. Navi, why haven't I listened to you more often?"

I never, ever thought I'd get that remark. It should have been flattering, but right then it was like a blinking sign that read: IDIOT!

Link ran off at that point, eager to tell Zelda now that he had his perfect little excuse. I don't know how he planned to make it work, but he obviously did. Or maybe he didn't? I don't know. I had to follow him.

"Hey! Listen! Wait!"

…

"Hey Link!"

By the time I found Link, he had left the castle grounds and gone outside the town. So…maybe he'd lost his courage?

"I have to tell Malon first. She is one of my closest friends after all!"

Oh, so that's why he was heading to the ranch in such a hurry. Go figure.

I followed Link as he made his way up the grassy, sloped entrance. Malon was standing near the front of the ranch, dressed in her usual farm-girl attire and wooden shoes. She turned to see the two of us coming in and she waved cheerfully. Malon was always the optimistic redhead, the preppy energy of our group.

"Why do you look so happy, Link?" she asked. When we got closer, she came forward and wrapped her arms around Link's waist. After a brief hug, Link pulled out with an excited grin.

"I came by to tell you something important. Today, I'm going to ask Zelda to marry me."

I wanted to see Malon's expression, so I watched her the entire time. At first, she just stared at Link. Then her mouth opened slightly and she tilted her head to the side. When Link did not make any move to say he was joking, Malon laughed and hugged him again.

"Oh my goddesses, you are serious! Oh Link, you are so grown up! I'm so glad you've finally given in and admitted to yourself that you love her enough to tell her!"

"No, no, no, you're mistaken!" Link said, shaking his index finger in front of her face. "I'm not doing it because I want to." Malon frowned.

"You're…not?"

"No…it's…it's in the service of the king. He believes that Zelda's getting old and ought to find a husband quickly, and since I've saved her so many times he wants me to be that husband. I didn't want to disappoint the old man."

Whoa! Hold on! He's pinning it on Zelda's father? I could tell by the expression on Malon's face that she wasn't buying it.

"Oh…oh…okay, Link. As you say. Well, you better hurry on now and tell the princess then." Link grinned and gave her a thumbs-up sign.

"Thanks, Malon. I'll see you soon!" Link was already gone halfway down the slope as he said those words. Malon looked at me and giggled. I shrugged mentally and followed Link. He stopped a little distance away from the ranch and turned to me.

"See, it's perfect! She totally believed me!"

Yeah, can I say: IDIOT? Is this guy really that dense? Or is he really that nervous? I think deep down, he doesn't believe me that Zelda loves him back. Maybe the excuse will prevent him from getting crushed. Not that he needs to worry.

"Do you really need to make an excuse?" I asked him, trying desperately to get some sense into his head. It bounced off like a rubber arrow. Link nodded and started running towards Kakariko Village. Great! Who does he want to tell now?

…

"…A service for the king, really. I didn't think of it much myself at the time, but I didn't want to disappoint him, you know?"

I rolled my eyes. Ruto and Saria, the only Kokiri that could actually leave the forest as she pleased, just _had_ to be visiting Kakariko Village. I learned that Link had really gone there to tell the cuckoo lady, whom he had made friends with, but since the others were there…here we go!

Saria and Ruto exchanged glances. The cuckoo lady hid a giggle behind her hand. Link didn't notice any of this. Instead, he was proudly going on about the ring, and how he was going to propose that afternoon of course, not really a _romantic_ thing, but more like a business affair. Yeah right.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck, Link," Saria said. Ruto nodded. She had once been 'engaged' to Link herself, but memories of that still haunt me. I'm totally not going to go there.

"Thanks Saria. I've known you forever, and that means a lot to me." Saria gave him a big smile, and I'm surprised she didn't burst out laughing right then and there.

Link gave a huge yawn and left the building, motioning to me to follow. It was late afternoon. Link finally headed back in the direction of Hyrule Castle Town. Let me guess: he was going to stop and announce his big news to anyone he passed by along the way…

…

How did I know?

"A service to the king…it's all official, business stuff. I've known Zelda for a long time, and the king believes it is in our best interest. I don't want to disappoint him."

I think every time he says it, I believe it a little more myself. He was currently talking to the Mask Salesman in the middle of the town. I decided it was better to drag Link out of there, or else the man might have attempted to sell us the Bride Mask or the Groom Mask or something of that nature. On the way out and through the town, Link told all the familiar faces he knew about the whole deal.

"A service requested by the king…under the king's service…at the king's service…"

"Link! Hey! Listen!" I called to him one time after he told a dancing couple. Link turned to me. "Pretty soon, I doubt there will be enough prepositions for you to keep lying to everyone." Link laughed and patted me on the head, and I hate it when he does that. Makes me feel like a dog or something. But he didn't say anything. Behind me, I could hear all the townspeople whispering. They all knew about the seven-year secret love between the Zelda and Link and found it so sweet that they were so smitten with each other and didn't want to admit it. And now, they found it extra cute that Link was doing it first, though trying his best not to seem like it.

Finally, Link was satisfied to return to the Castle. If I had fingers, I would have crossed them. It was time he finally talked to the princess herself.

…

After asking a few guards about her whereabouts, and then pausing a few seconds to tell them another round of 'the king told me to' as I started to refer to it, Link found Zelda in the palace garden courtyard. She turned to him as soon as he stepped through the arch, and I could physically feel his joy and his nervousness.

Even though she could be as big a pain as Link sometimes, I did admire Zelda. She was a calm, gentle, yet energetic princess. She and Link had a lot of things in common. They both had golden hair, though Zelda's was obviously longer and held back with a barrette and her tiara. They both had Hylian features and blue eyes that stood out against their pale skin. Link was tanning more though.

That day, Zelda was wearing a light pink gown that strayed a little off her shoulders, exposing her smooth shoulders and a little bit of cleavage. And as she was a seventeen-year old young woman, it was quite enough to catch Link's attention.

"Nice to see you today, Link," Zelda said. For being friends as long as she was with him, it was quite formal. But as I had mentioned earlier, it was part of the whole 'I refuse to admit I'm in love with you' thing.

"Nice to see you as well, Zelda." Link's reply was equal in politeness. Neither one wanted to be friendlier than the other one was. Zelda folded her hands together.

"Is that a new tunic?" she asked. Link looked down. He was wearing a green tunic as always, but it was true that the particular one he wore that day was new. I don't even know how Zelda realized that; all of Link's green tunics look the same to me.

"Yes. It is. Is that a new dress?"

"Yes, actually, it is. Your tunic's nice."

"Well, your dress is nice."

For anyone who was listening and had no background whatsoever, this conversation might have seemed very strained. It was, actually. However, while most people would be strained to talk to people that they disliked, these two were strained to talk to the person they loved most.

Link wet his lips. I suppose that was when he was trying to decide what to say to Zelda.

"Um…hey…" Link said, almost in a mumble. "I have to ask you…tell you…um, show you…something." Zelda leaned forward to hear.

"Yes, Link?" she asked. Link looked at me once. I was not about to offer any help. He turned back to Zelda.

"You see…your father…talked to me." Zelda raised her eyebrows.

"Really? Did he have any tasks for you?"

"Um…yes…one in particular, though I wouldn't call it a task. More like a favor." Zelda walked a little closer with a polite smile on her face.

"What favor? Does it involve me?"

"I suppose you can say that," Link replied. He's being so vague. I was silently screaming _just tell her the freaking truth_ but he'd kill me if I said it aloud.

"In what way am I involved?" Zelda asked. She was now right in front of Link, looking up at his face with a calm smile. Link was looking down at her with a similar expression. They were close together, and yet neither of them said anything about that! This is what I meant. It was like silent intimidation.

"Well…he told me about the few suitors that have approached you." Zelda raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"Oh yes, there have been _several_ suitors," Zelda said, stressing the word. Probably to make Link jealous, I assumed. "All of them equally fine men, however will I choose?" While she said this, I must note that she had placed a finger on Link's sleeve and was tracing the subtle pattern on it, not directly looking at his face any longer. Link was blatantly staring at her.

"Well, as far as he told me, you weren't interested in any of them." Zelda frowned slightly.

"Oh, no, no, I assure you, I was interested in _many_ of them. They are all such fine men, having accomplished such fine things!" She continued with the finger thing. Link's face wore a conflicting expression. If he had defended himself and said that he was probably more qualified than all of them, it would have seemed like he _wanted_ Zelda to like _him_, which, of course, would give Zelda a clear upper hand. Instead, he chuckled.

"I suppose the glaring was all good humor then?" Zelda looked up at Link sharply. I could feel Link stiffen, though he tried to keep his face as calm as possible.

"I had to be sure that they could handle me when I had my bad days." A reasonable excuse, I suppose. Link shrugged.

"Well, that's too bad, because your father was convinced you didn't like any of them. And then he told me that you had mentioned me several times." Ah yes, was he going to make it seem like the marriage thing started off as _her_ idea. It was his turn to get the glare.

"Only slight remarks, I assure you," Zelda said, pretending to be completely uninterested in him as she stepped away and gave him a neutral expression, but I obviously knew otherwise. "Just to compare the other suitors' noble deeds to yours. I've found they are just as worthy." I rolled my eyes. I know how grateful she was to Link that he was around and how she wanted to tell him that no one else could compare to him. Remember, I read her diary.

"Anyway, you mentioned me," Link continued. He looked a little hurt by that previous statement. "And so the king asked if I would consider, you know, a marriage to you."

I'm going to take a deep breath here, because until his point both of them were calmly trying to make the other give in, as they always have. But now, Link had said the fatal sentence.

"What?" Zelda snapped. She looked a little angry. Link shrugged innocently, displaying an attitude that would only infuriate her more.

"You know, he said that it would be nice for _you_ if I married you. You could have a friend with you at all times. And your father and I are sort of close, you know, I didn't want to disappoint him. You are his only daughter after all. So, I decided to ask you if you would." Link inserted a shrug. "I don't know, like a favor, for him." Zelda stared, shocked at Link.

"You would dare to ask me to marry you and tell me that it came from my father?" Zelda demanded. "As if! Even if he did, you wouldn't have agreed if you didn't want it."

"Well, I cared for him, and I cared for you. You know, we've been friends. So I just thought…why are you so angry?" Link kept a calm expression on his face, but Zelda had crossed her arms and was glaring with her most potent glare.

"If you must know, I was actually about to choose one of the suitors, thank you. So I don't need _your _proposal." Link looked a little shocked. I wish I could have told him that was a lie, because it was. But instead, I had to stand off to the side as he started yelling at her.

"Well, I don't think that's in your best interest."

"What makes you think you know what my best interests are? Besides, why do you care? You obviously want to marry me for your own sake, not my father's, if you care this much."

"No I don't! I just don't want to disappoint your father. And besides, if you getting this angry, then **obviously **_**you**_** want me to want to marry you because I want to**!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Link! It's obvious. **You want me to want you to want to marry me because you want to.**"

At this point, the yelling had pretty much turned into screaming, with both of them pointing fingers, glaring, and anything else.

"No, _you_ are being ridiculous. I'm just trying to do a favor, and **you're turning it into something romantic!**"

"Well, _excuse me_ for wanting my marriage to have romance in it. The suitors can at least grant me that, if you can't, **even though you want to but don't want to admit it**!"

"See…you _do_ want that romance stuff. **You're just trying to get me to admit it so that you don't have to.**_** Well it's all just a favor!**_"

"**Then why did you even bother asking me?**" At this point, I thought the argument was going just keep going and going…but then something happened. Zelda started to cry. Link was slightly taken back.

"Because I _cared_, Zelda," he said, trying to soften his tone. But she kept screaming at him. And crying.

"**Well, if you **_**cared**_**, you would have known that I would rather have the romantic stuff.** **Instead, you choose to insult me!**"

"I'm not insulting you," Link insisted, trying to approach her and set his hands on her shoulders. She brushed them off angrily, sobbing between her words.

"Well, you obviously find me pathetic and unable to find anyone else to like me, convinced that you would be the only person that I would ever like."

"Well, I didn't want it to come out like _that_!"

"Well, it did!" Zelda said. And she closed her eyes as more tears fell out. "And it hurts."

"Well it hurts me too…"

"No it doesn't. Not like it does to me. Because I think what we're both saying are lies, and it hurts for me to deny it, and it hurts to hear you deny it. Because I know I'm lying, but I don't know if you are."

Whoa! Back up! Is Zelda admitting something? Link narrowed his eyes at her. She continued crying, barely meeting his eyes as she continued speaking almost as if all her energy had been drained out of her.

"Link, just tell me the truth. Do you really want to marry me, or does my father want you to? Because he knows that I'm freaking in love with you."

Ah, she said it! The girl has sense! I looked over at Link. He looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. She continued to speak.

"And I can't stand it anymore, being in front of you while you tell me that you aren't asking because you love me, but because of some stupid favor." Link smirked.

"So you admit it, then?" He expected, probably, for Zelda to blush or something and give in. Instead, she cried louder and sunk to her knees. Link was startled.

"Is that all you care about?" she demanded. Link kneeled down in front of her. He cupped her face in his hands and made her look at him.

"No…no…I just wanted to make sure before I did this." And before I could even have time to hover away and give them privacy, he dipped in and kissed her. Now, she wasn't really expecting that, you could tell, after her initial, wide-eyed reaction. But then she closed her eyes and kissed him back so fiercely I hummed to myself and looked away, probably glowing a very distinct red color.

When they broke apart, Link took out the ring and showed it to Zelda, who promptly gasped.

"Okay, I'll admit it too, I lied," he said. "He didn't really ask me. I asked him. And he said yes. Navi told me that you probably liked me, but I was so worried. I didn't want to ask you and then not know for sure."

"Well, then, if you didn't know, you're an idiot," Zelda said bluntly. Link laughed and brought her close to sit in his lap. She hugged, pressing her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Aww…it was such a cute moment.

"Sorry to get you so upset about it. I just needed to know how much you wanted it…"

"A lot!" Zelda replied. Then, she smirked mischievously. "But you know, there's something else I want a lot too…" Link looked down as she grinned up at him, fingering the buttons of his tunic. "It's a shame that your tunic's new. The buttons will probably take a while to undo, but I'm sure I'll figure it out." Link grinned back at her, using one of his hands to push down one of the straps of her gown.

"Really…well, I think it's a shame that I can't pin _this_ on your father…" he said as she started to kiss his neck, undoing the buttons on his tunic. His hands grasped the sleeves of her gown and started to slide it down. His leaned down to her shoulder and kissed her too…

And unfortunately, that's all I'm going to tell you, because that's all I remember. I left quite promptly, content to give them their full privacy. I had been there every second of the 'who can admit they're in love first' game. However, 'who can undress their lover faster' was not a game I was inclined to witness.

…

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